SF has declared an emergency due to the coastal erosion happening at Sloat blvd. and the Great Highway. If you enjoy the beach, and give a rats ass about our local government making sound, sustainable, policy in regards to our environment then you may want to read this and sign the petition!

SurfPulse Save Sloat!

One solution to this erosion, which has been used previously up and down the california coastline is to “armor” the coast with rip-rap (lg boulders) or sea walls. Both of which have been proven to be effective in the short term. These “solutions” also have been proven to simply relocate the problem, up or down the coast. E.g. putting rip-rap at Sloat will simply accelerate erosion of the beach, north and south.

In what looks to be an amazing film, The Unforeseen, we get a look at a battle between a storied Austin developer and a community that finds itself on the brink of losing one of it’s long held treasures. Imho it’s not development that is the enemy, it’s the nature of the way things are developed today. The capitalists version of development is essentially the oldest get rich quick schemes our society has ever known, and it’s this brand of short term thinking that clashes with a newfound american values of heritage and stewardship.

An ambitious west Texas farm boy with grandiose plans tires of living at the mercy of nature and sets out to find a life with more control. He heads to Austin where he becomes a real estate developer and skillfully capitalizes on the growth of this 1970s boomtown. At the peak of his powers, he transforms 4,000 acres of pristine Hill Country into one of the state’s largest and fastest selling subdivisions. When the development threatens a local treasure, a fragile limestone aquifer and a naturally spring-fed swimming hole, the community fights back. In the conflict that ensues, we see in miniature a struggle that today plays out in communities across the country.

Screening at the Red Vic Movie House, 5/18/08 – 5/19/08.

Trailer after the jump